An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.
The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker or artist from a wealthy country. It may also refer to retirees and other individuals who have chosen to live outside their native country. Students are usually not referred to as expats.
The International Organization for Migration of the United Nations defines the term as "a person who voluntarily renounces his or her nationality". Historically, it has also been used to refer to exiles.
The UAE is the country with the highest percentage of expatriates in the world after the Vatican City, with expatriates in the United Arab Emirates representing about 88% of the population.
Etymology The word expatriate comes from the Latin words and , from , .
Semantics Dictionary definitions for the current meaning of the word include:
Expatriate: "A person who lives outside their native country" (Oxford), or "a person who lives in a foreign country" (Webster's).
These definitions contrast with those of other words with similar meanings, such as: Migrant: "A person who moves from one place to another in order to find work or better living conditions" (Oxford), or "one that migrates: such as a person who moves regularly in order to find work especially in harvesting crops" (Webster's); or Immigrant "A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country" (Oxford), or "one that immigrates: such as a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence" (Webster's).
Academics seeking a technical definition of the word "expatriate" sometimes take it to mean a person who is legally living abroad, butunlike an immigranteventually intends to return to their country of origin. In popular usage, the word "expat"especially when contrasted with words like "immigrant"is freighted with nuances about wealth, education level, perceived motives for moving, nationality, class, and type of employment; the BBC proffered that the word "expat" is more likely to be applied to rich professionals, while foreigners working as maids or builders are more likely to be called "foreign workers" or "migrant workers". Some commentators assert that the traditional use of the word "expat" has racist connotations. A 2026 newspaper survey in Brussels, where 85% of the population are immigrants or children of immigrants, found a range of opinions from self-identified immigrants or expats, including the opinion that the term "expat" creates unnecessary divisions and stigmatizes the word "immigrant".
Linguist Charlotte Taylor traced the modern usage of "expatriate" to British civil servants on overseas assignments in the mid-20th century, which seeded the word's enduring class connotations. An older usage of the word expatriate referred to an exile. Alternatively, when used as a verbal noun, expatriation can mean the act of someone renouncing allegiance to their native country, as in the preamble to the United States Expatriation Act of 1868 which states: "the right of expatriation is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".United States Revised Statutes, Sec. 1999.
Some neologisms have been coined, including: dispatriate, an expatriate who intentionally distances themselves from their nation of origin; flexpatriate, an employee who often travels internationally for business (see "Business expatriates" below); inpatriate, an employee sent from a foreign subsidiary to work in the country where a company has its headquarters; rex-pat, a repeat expatriate, often someone who has chosen to return to a foreign country after completing a work assignment; sexpat, an expatriate with the goal of short or long term sexual relationships (expatriate + sex tourist).
The term "expatriate" is sometimes misspelled as "ex-patriot", which author Anu Garg has characterised as an example of an eggcorn.
In Canada, individuals who reside in a different province on a temporary basis (such as students or seasonal workers) while continuing to hold their home province's residency are sometimes colloquially referred to as "interprovincial expats", as opposed to official "interprovincial migrants" who permanently change their legal province of residence. For example, under Canadian student financial aid and healthcare regulations, students from any provincesuch as those moving between Alberta and British Columbiacan attend post-secondary institutions across the country while legally retaining their home province's residency for tax, medical coverage, and student loan purposes.
Cohorts Types of expat community
The table below aims to show significant examples of expatriate communities which have developed since the 18th century:
GroupPeriodCountry of originDestinationHost countryNotesAustralians and New Zealanders in London1960s–presentAustralia/New ZealandLondonUnited KingdomBeat Generation1950sUnited StatesTangierMoroccoBeat Generation1960sUnited StatesParisFranceSee Beat Hotel.British retirees1970s–presentUnited KingdomCosta del SolSpainArguably immigrants if permanent.British retireescurrentUnited KingdomDordogneFranceArguably immigrants if permanent.British Raj1721–1949United KingdomIndiaCelebrities and artists1800s–presentvariousLake GenevaSwitzerlandDigital nomads1990s–presentvariousvariousFilmmakers1910s–presentEuropeLos AngelesUnited States"Hollywood"Jet set1950s–70svariousvariousLost Generation1920s–30sUnited StatesParisFranceSee A Moveable Feast.Modernist artists & writers1870s–1930svariousFrench RivieraFranceOligarchs1990s–presentRussiaLondonUnited KingdomSalarymencurrentJapanvariousSee Japanese diasporaShanghai French Concession1849–1943FranceShanghaiChinaShanghai International Settlement1863–1945United KingdomShanghaiChinaPreceded by British ConcessionShanghai International Settlement1863–1945United StatesShanghaiChinaPreceded by American ConcessionTax exiles1860s(?)–presentvariousMonte CarloMonacoThird culture kidscurrentvariousvariousIncludes 'military brats' and 'diplobrats'.
During the 1930s, Nazi Germany revoked the citizenship of many opponents, such as Albert Einstein, Oskar Maria Graf, Willy Brandt and Thomas Mann, often expatriating entire families.
Worldwide distribution of expats
The number of expatriates in the world is difficult to determine, since there is no governmental census. Market research company Finaccord estimated the number to be 66.2 million in 2017.
In 2013, the United Nations estimated that 232 million people, or 3.2% of the world population, lived outside their home country.
As of 2019, according to the United Nations, the number of international migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million, or 3.5% of the world population.
Expatriate employees
Some multinational corporations send employees to foreign countries to work in branch offices or subsidiaries. Expatriate employees allow a parent company to more closely control its foreign subsidiaries. They can also improve global coordination.
A 2007 study found that key drivers for expatriates to pursue international careers included breadth of responsibilities, nature of the international environment (risk and challenge), high levels of autonomy in international posts, and cultural differences (rethinking old ways).
Expatriate professionals and independent expatriate hires often prove more expensive than local employees. Expatriate salaries are usually augmented with allowances to compensate for a higher cost of living or for hardships associated with a foreign posting. Other expenses may need to be paid, such as health-care, housing, or fees at an international school. There is also the cost of moving a family and their belongings. Another problem can be government restrictions in the foreign country.
Spouses may have trouble adjusting due to culture shock, loss of their usual social network, interruptions to their own career, and helping children to cope with a new school. These are chief reasons given for foreign assignments ending early. However, a spouse can also act as a source of support for an expatriate professional. Families with children help to bridge the language and culture aspect of the host and home country, while the spouse plays a critical role in balancing the family's integration into the local culture. Some corporations have begun to include spouses earlier when making decisions about a foreign posting, and offer coaching or adjustment training before a family departs. Research suggests that tailoring pre-departure cross-cultural training and its specific relevance positively influence the fulfilment of expectations in expatriates' adjustment. According to the 2012 Global Relocation Trends Survey Report, 88 per cent of spouses resist a proposed move. The most common reasons for refusing an assignment are family concerns and the spouse's career.
Expatriate failure is a term which has been coined for an employee returning prematurely to the home country, or resigning. About 7% of expatriates return early, but this figure does not include those who perform poorly while on assignment or resign entirely from a company. When asking the cost of a premature expatriate's return, a survey of 57 multinational companies reported an average cost of about US$225,000.
Reasons and motivations for expatriation People move abroad for many different reasons. An understanding of what makes people move is the first step in the expatriation process. People could be "pushed" away as a reaction to specific socio-economic or political conditions in the home country, or "pulled" towards a destination country because of better work-opportunities/conditions. The "pull" can also include personal preferences, such as climate, a better quality of life, or the fact that family/friends are living abroad.
For some people, moving abroad is a conscious, thoroughly planned undertaking, while for others it can be a "spur of the moment", spontaneous decision. This decision, of course, is influenced by the individual's geographic, socioeconomic and political environment; as well as by their personal circumstances. The motivation for moving (or staying) abroad also gets adjusted with the different life-changes the person experiencesfor example, if they get married, have children, etc. Also, different personalities (or personality types) have diverse reactions to the challenges of adjusting to a host-country culture; and these reactions affect motivations to continue (or not) living abroad.
In the context of international competition, it is important for companies, as well as for countries, to understand what is that motivates people to move to another country to work. Understanding expatriates' motivations for international mobility allows organisations to tailor work-packages to match expatriates' expectations in order to attract and/or retain skilled workers from abroad.
Recent trends Trends in recent years among business expatriates have included: Reluctance by employees to accept foreign assignments, due to spouses also having a career. Reluctance by multinational corporations to sponsor overseas assignments, due to increased sensitivity both to costs and to local cultures. It is common for an expat to cost at least three times more than a comparable local employee. Short-term assignments becoming more common. These are assignments of several months to a year which rarely require the expatriate family to move. They can include specific projects, technology-transfer, or problem-solving tasks. In 2008, nearly two-thirds of international assignments consisted of long-term assignments (greater than one year, typically three years). In 2014, that number fell to just over half.